Brown Dog Farm - Golden, CO - Raw beet salad

I have had a couple of busy weeks and there are many topics for the blog so keep tune.
Yesterday, I went back to the market, which I hadn't had a chance to do in a few weeks, and had some great finds.

My favorite was a small vegetable booth from a farm in Golden, Brown Dog Farm. It is sometimes obvious when perusing the market that some of the produce isn't Colorado grown or aren't all that fresh. Reason why I was so impressed with this small booth. The produce looked fresh, vibrant and nicely displayed in clean baskets; plus the couple of young vendors were friendly and helpful.

I fell in love with the mesclun greens, arugula, the squashes, radishes and beets...yes, beets! You should know that I too used to dislike beets very much, but I have been to beet rehab and have learned to love them, I wish I could say the same about green beans!



About a year or so ago we went out to a lovely restaurant for dinner and the chicken dish that caught my attention had beets, I figured - eat the chicken forget the beets. Surprisingly enough they were so beautiful and multicolored that I felt the urgency to give them a try and I am glad I did. We have all been there, growing up with vegetables that were overcooked and mushy and left a lot to desire, case in point the green beans, and have associated that with the vegetables and learned to blame them for the bad cooking techniques. I have a friend who once told me: "I never knew asparagus had crunch!"
Those beets changed my perspective and sent me on a quest of beet eating from restaurant to restaurant. But never had the courage to actually buy them and attempt to prepared them myself, until yesterday.

At home, I went to my trusty Alice Waters Vegetable and Deborah Madison Local Flavors cookbooks for some advise on what to do with my new find. Both of them advised to use the beets raw in salads or lightly cooked as part of a dish. They both also suggested the use of the leafy greens, when the beets are fresh the leafy tops are beautiful and can also be use as part of a salad or in another dish, like the pasta dish I prepared.

The raw beet salad turned out to be extremely easy to prepare and delicious, yes I am still talking about beets. Combined with a little ginger root in a light vinaigrette was the perfect side dish on a hot summer day.

Raw Beet Salad

2 medium size beets
2 radishes

1 tsp grated ginger root
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1/2 tsp honey
1/2 tsp stone-ground mustard
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp fresh chopped parsley
1 tsp fresh chopped basil
Salt and Pepper to taste

The trick to this salad is the finely sliced or julienne beets, you can use a mandolin if you have one, but in my experience not everyone goes around buying mandolin for fun, so thinly slice the beets and if they don't come out very thin then slice them again into little sticks (see picture)
Slice the radishes, also very thin. Mix the vinaigrette ingredients and toss the beets and radishes. Let it sit for 10-15 minutes and toss again before serving.

*The veggies will loss some water so don't be alarmed if you end up with a small pool on the bottom of the bowl, just toss all to combine well and serve.

Enjoy!
By Paula Thomas